summon Sheng Yong to surrender, but was refused. Sheng Yong was defeated while leading an attack on the rear of the Yan Army. In November, the Yan forces arrived in Linqing, and Zhu Di decided to disrupt the government supply line to force Sheng Yong to abandon Jinan. To counter this, Sheng Yong planned for a decisive battle in Dongchang, and armed his troops with gunpowder weapons and poisonous crossbows. On 25 December, the Yan forces arrived in Dongchang. Sheng Yong successfully lured Zhu Di into his encirclement, in which the Yan general Zhang Yu was killed in action while trying to break Zhu Di out. While Zhu Di was able to flee from the battlefield, the Yan forces suffered another defeat the next day and were forced to withdraw. On 16 January 1401, the Yan forces returned to Beiping. The Battle of Dongchang was the largest defeat suffered by Zhu Di since the onset of the campaign, and he was particularly saddened by the death of Zhang Yu. During the battle, Zhu Di was almost killed on numerous occasions. However, the government forces were instructed by Jianwen Emperor to refrain from killing Zhu Di, which the Prince of Yan took advantage of. News of the victory following the Battle of Dongchang was well received by Jianwen Emperor. In January 1401, Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng were restored to their posts, and the emperor went on to worship the imperial ancestral temple in Nanjing. The military morale of Sheng Yong forces received a significant boost, and the Yan forces stayed clear of Shandong in subsequent attacks. Battle of Jia River-Gaocheng The defeat at Dongchang was a humiliating loss for Zhu Di, but his close advisor Yao Guangxiao supported continuing military operations. The Yan forces mobilised again on 16 February 1401 and marched southwards. In anticipation of a Yan strike, Sheng Yong stationed himself in Dezhou with 200,000 troops, while placing the remainder of the forces in Zhending. Zhu Di decided to strike Sheng Yong first. On 20 March, the Yan forces encountered the forces of Sheng Yong on Jia River near Wuyi. On 22 March, the Yan forces crossed the Jia River. Seeing that the camp of Sheng Yong was heavily guarded, Zhu Di decided to personally scout the opponent to search for weak spots. Since Jianwen Emperor forbade the killing of Zhu Di, the government forces refrained from shooting